CP's single chapters
by CPU Ruby heart
Summary: So... This is what happens when I get writer's block. Be warned, most of these are VERY unfinished single chapters to stories I may never finish.
1. Chapter 1

**_Wittle Jaune_**

* * *

The door to JNPR's dark and empty room opened. Nebula Violette, Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy and Octavia Ember entered the room.

"Jaune Arc?" Nebula called out, looking around the dark room.

"Maybe he's not here." Gwen said, switching on the room's light.

Three out of the four members of JNPR were away for the time being. Pyrrha Nikos was needed back home, a family emergency. Lie Ren along with Nora Valkyrie were off on a small mission with team RWBY. The leader of JNPR is to join NDGO for their own mission, but he doesn't seem to be in the room.

"Octavia, try his scroll again." Nebula ordered.

Her red haired teammate did and a few seconds later...

["Ursa Ursa. Ururursa"]

*The collective groans of annoyance from the NGO of NDGO*

"Why!?"All but Dew asked.

Dew, the only one not bothered by this ringtone rolled her eyes and walked over to the source. "Don't be such babies, it's not that bad." She kneeled down on the left side of the leftmost bed and picked up the scroll that was apparently offending her teammate's ears, turning off the device. "...Guys?"

The rest of her team walked over to where Dew found the scroll. On the floor was a pair of shoes, ripped blue jeans, white chest and shoulder armor and a sword in a white sheath.

"I-Is that his?" Gwen asked.

Nebula quickly walked over and closed the door. "Look around for signs of a struggle. Someone attacked the guards at the CCT, students may also be targets." She finished and they began searching the room. Gwen checked the window for signs of forced entry while Nebula did the same with the door, Octavia examined the bed and the floor around it and Dew checked the closet because of the possibility he might have been tied up and put in there for some reason.

Dew opened the closet door and there sitting against the back wall was a small frightened boy who was wearing a black hoodie that was much too large for him. She kneeled down to get a better look at the boy who couldn't be more than three, His blond hair was short and messy and his tearful blue eyes looked up at her...

"M-Mommy!" He screamed, running up to Dew and wrapping his small arms around her neck. He kept his face buried against the side of her neck, sobbing quietly.

Surprised, the blonde spear wielder gently rubbed his back with her right hand in an attempt to calm the boy down. Her left forearm was placed under his rear for support to easier pick him up. "It's okay, d-don't cry."

"Who's this?" Nebula asked as she along Gwen and Octavia approached Dew with the boy in her arms.

"I don't know, he was hiding in the closet." Dew answered, still trying to calm the boy down.

"You know, he kind of looks like..." Octavia started.

Gwen moved a bit closer and spoke in a quiet voice. "Hey there, what's your name?" She asked with a sweet smile.

The boy lightly loosened his grip on Dew and stared at the blonde as if he wanted her to answer for him. When she didn't after a few seconds he turned his head to face Gwen. "*Sniff* J-Jaune."

* * *

After contacting Beacon's headmaster and meeting up with him and Glynda Goodwitch at the infirmary, the members of NDGO were asked to wait just outside of an examination room while the boy claiming to be Jaune was examined.

The all female team shared a wooden bench facing the door to the examination room starting with Nebula and to her right in order was Dew, Gwen and Octavia. Nebula was staring at the door while tapping her foot on the ground impatiently, Dew was looking up something on her scroll, Gwen was entertaining herself by balancing a throwing knife on each of her fingers and Octavia just looked annoyed.

"Aw, don't get pissy missy." Gwen said to Octavia.

"I'm not-"

"He'll be legal again in about... Twelve years." Gwen interrupted with a smile.

"Thirteen." Dew corrected her teammate, still looking at her scroll.

"Not if we stay in Vale." Gwen stated.

"..."

"Yeouch!" Gwen yelled, her face contorted in pain. Octavia had just slammed her heel down on top of Gwen's right foot.

While Octavia was busy with Gwen, Dew turned to address her leader. "Relax, it won't be permanent."

"I'm sorry, what'd you say?" Nebula asked, not hearing what her blonde teammate had just said.

Dew smirked. "He'll be back to normal soon and then you can..." She leaned over to whisper something into Nebula's ear that caused the leader to blush.

"Excuse me, Miss Gayl?"

The four girls looked in front of them to the source of the new voice, a portly man with a magnificent light grey mustache stood there with his hands behind his back.

"Yes?" Dew said, standing up.

"Could you please come with me, Headmaster Ozpin requires our assistance." He said, gesturing for Dew to follow him into the examination room.

With that the two left and about ten minutes later...

"... Armed with a broken plastic spoon that I had used previously for my soup, I fended off the flock of Nevermore and saved the orphanage!" Professor Port had just finished telling one of his famous stories from youth as he exited the examination room with the young blond boy being carried in his arms.

The boy has been changed out of the oversized hoodie and into a baby blue t-shirt with a picture of a cute white bunny face on it, a pair of light brown shorts, black sneakers and white socks. He was so focused on the story the professor had just finished.

Dew followed behind the professor, looking like she had just woken up. Headmaster Ozpin and professor Goodwitch followed after Dew.

"Peter, tell Jaune another. I need to speak with these four." Ozpin said as he gestured for NDGO to follow him into the examination room.

Ozpin, Goodwitch and the entirety of NDGO entered the room. "He is indeed, Jaune Arc." The Headmaster spoke.

"Is this his semblance?" Dew asked.

He shook his head. "We are unsure at the moment. All we know is that he has no memories of his family, Beacon or any of his friends. But, he believes Miss Gayl is his mother." He finished, looking at Dew and taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Nebula was about to speak but was interrupted by Goodwitch.

"We've shown him a picture of Miss Gayl and one of his actual mother... He truly believes you are his mother."

"Why?" Dew asked.

The two professors shrugged their shoulders.

"So, for the time being we would like to ask that you four look after him until this all gets straightened out."

"Wait, why us?" Octavia asked.

"All of Beacon's staff are far too busy to look after a child and we can't send him home..." Goodwitch began.

"Why can't he go home or a family member come here?" Gwen asked.

"That's..." The blonde professor was thinking of how to word her response.

"His parents don't want to have to raise their son a second time." Ozpin spoke for Goodwitch.

"...Oh." Gwen and the rest of her team hadn't realized.

Ozpin took notice of NDGO's sullen expressions. Maybe being blunt wasn't the right choice. "Think of this as your new mission. Hunters and Huntresses should know how to care for a child."

"Mommy!" Little Jaune ran up to Dew as she, her team, Ozpin and Glynda left the examination room. He had this big grin as he looked up at her.

Dew looked down at the boy before nervously looking up at Ozpin, silently asking if this is okay.

Beacon's headmaster did nothing to answer her. All he did was smile at her before taking another sip from his mug.

Something tugged gently at her dress.

"Mommy, are you okay?"

She looked down and saw the boy's frown. He looked so worried... Dew kneeled down and wrapped her arms around him before standing up with him in her arms again. "M-Mommy's just fine, don't worry."

* * *

NDGO returned to their temporary dorm room, having removed any protective armor they were wearing in order to be more comfortable. Gwen took it a step further and changed into an oversized dark purple knitted sweater and black boy shorts.

Nebula and Octavia sat on the right edge of the left most bed while Dew and Gwen sat on the left edge of the bed to the right of the first. They were all observing the little leader of JNPR as he lay on the floor in between the two beds. He was on his stomach, feet kicking in the air as he drew with crayons in a sketch book. Both of which were provided by professor Goodwitch.

"Remind me, how did we get elected to be babysitters?" Octavia asked, still watching the boy draw.

"Oh, don't complain." Nebula said, sliding off of the bed and kneeling next to the boy. "This should be a good experience for us." She made to place a hand on top of Jaune's head only to be startled by him sneezing. She quickly retracted her arm and got back on the bed, liking a bit... Worried.

"You're not going to hurt him. Don't be so nervous." Gwen assured her leader. "Watch." She leaned down to ruffle the boy's golden locks, much to his protest. He swatted her hand away, gave her an annoyed look before going back to drawing.

* * *

 **Sorry, that's it for this one.**


	2. Chapter 2

Jaune/Arslan+Nora/Reese 2

* * *

 ** _Sick Fic_**

* * *

"Achoo! *sniff*."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay here?" Pyrrha asked.

"Pyrrha, come on!" Nora whined. She was wearing a dark blue hoodie which Pyrrha has never seen before.

It was about 9:00 AM and Jaune was just exiting their room's bathroom, wearing that blue bunny onesie. He had managed to catch a cold. Probably because it was chilly last night and he wasn't wearing his hoodie when he got back from wherever he was. He was shivering a bit.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks though." He responded, sounding congested.

"See, he's fine. Now let's go!" Nora said, trying to drag Pyrrha by the arm towards the door.

Ignoring Nora's attempt to move her, Pyrrha watched as her sick partner slowly walked to his bed with a box of tissues in hand. She never did find out what had happened to his hoodie.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Who could that be?" Pyrrha asked as she made her way over to the door, with Nora still having a hold of her arm.

The red head opened the door to see a girl who stood a couple inches shorter than Pyrrha with dark skin, bleach blonde hair with a pair of red hair needles and golden eyes. She was wearing a yellow robe with only one wide, loose fitting sleeve on her right arm. It looked like she was wearing a black tube top under the robe. Around her waist was a red sash with some sort of white symbol embroidered on it. The rest of her outfit consisted of a red bead necklace, black pants that went just below her knees and black shoes. She also had bandages wrapped around her left forearm, on the left arm just below her shoulder, her right hand was partially wrapped and on each leg just bellow where her pant legs ended.

"Uh... Hello. Can I help you?" The red head asked.

"Yes, I came to return this." The girl said as she held out what looked like a folded up black hoodie with a little bit of orange on it...

Wait.

Is that his hoodie? Why does she have it? Is she the reason her kni-partner is sick!? Who is she!? All of these questions were going through Pyrrha's head and was about to get answers but...

"Achoo! *sniff* Sorry." Jaune apologized before having to blow his nose into a tissue. He was in his bed to the far left of the room.

"You got sick didn't you?" The girl asked, pushing her way past Pyrrha and Nora to enter the room. She placed the hoodie on the next bed over before going to stand by the blonde's bed, looking down at him. She did not look happy.

"Yeah. Sorry." Jaune apologized a second time.

"Don't apologize to me. It's your own stupid fault." She said, placing her left hand on his forehead. "You're hot."

Jaune smirked. "Heh, thanks."

This made the girl roll her eyes and smack the blonde lightly on his forehead with her hand. "You know what I meant." She said as she took out a scroll and sent a message before putting it away.

"I'm sorry. But, who are you and what are you doing here?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh for the love of-" Nora said exasperated before (somehow) dragging Pyrrha over to the dark skinned girl. "Pyrrha meet Arslan."

(i)'So, this is the girl Jaune has been seeing. She certainly seems to care about him. I should probably... Introduce myself.'(i) Pyrrha thought as she offered her hand to Arslan for a handshake. "Hello, I'm Pyr-".

"Yes, I know who you are." Arslan interrupted before she reluctantly complied with a very firm handshake, frowning as she did.

"Great! Now that you two have met..." Nora took hold of Pyrrha's free arm. "We can go! Come on Pyrrha, let's leave Jaune in the capable hands of his ladyfriend." The shorter girl finished, dragging Pyrrha out of the room. They left the door open.

With an annoyed sigh, Arslan went over to the open door... Then she slammed it shut, causing a poster of X-Ray & Vav that was hanging on the wall to fall onto the floor. She stood there for a few seconds with a hand resting on the door before sighing again and then going back over to stand by Jaune's bed.

"I'm having Bolin bring over some medicine." She said, staring at the door with her arms crossed. Her foot tapping impatiently.

Jaune sat up in his bed before speaking. "Oh, thanks..."

The room was silent for a minute before he spoke again.

"So, what do you have planned for today?" He asked.

"Taking care of you." She answered.

"O-oh..." He wasn't expecting that answer. "You don't have to do that. I-"

"Yes, I do." She interrupted him.

"You do?"

Arslan looked down at him sternly. "Yes, you're sick because of me and that you are an idiot."

"Because of you? You didn't do anything."

Arslan leaned down to be eye level with Jaune. "I 'looked cold' apparently."

"...You were shivering."

"I was not." She said through gritted teeth.

"How would you know? You were asleep."

Arslan glared at him for a moment, there faces only inches apart. "You have no proof."

"ACHOO!" *knock* *knock*

Jaune was about to argue when they heard someone sneeze and then knock on the door. Arslan straightened herself before going to the door and opening it. "Reese?"

The turquoise haired girl was wearing a pale purple sweater, black shorts and black sneakers. She was lacking her knee and elbow pads along with her hoodie and the black markings she usually has on her cheeks.

"*Sniff* Hey leader." Reese greeted. She also sounded congested.

"Why are you here? I thought you were sick." Arslan had Reese come into the room as she shut the door.

"I have that medicine for Jaune." Reese held out an unlabeled glass bottle that contained some blue liquid. "I already had mine." She mentioned as Arslan took the bottle.

"Okay, but why are **you** here?" Arslan asked.

"Well... Bolin was out when he got your message, so he messaged Nadir and you know how he is around sick people so he sent me in his place..." The skater girl explained, smiling nervously.

Arslan's eyebrow twitched and she set the medicine on the ground. "I'll... Be right back." She said, making her way towards the door.

"A-Arslan, no!" Reese yelled as she wrapped her arms around Arslan's left arm to stop her pissed off leader. "Don't kick Nadir's ass!" She begged.

"I'm gonna kick his ass!" Arslan yelled back, trying to reach the door handle with her free hand.

"Jaune, do something!" Reese begged the other blond leader as Arslan's hand inched closer to the door handle.

"O-okay, hang on."

...

A few seconds passed and her hand was so close to the door handle when... "Put me down!"

"Not until you calm down." Jaune said, holding Arslan a couple of inches off of the ground with his hands under her armpits from behind.

"Wow, you're stronger than you look." Reese commented, having released Arslan's arm when Jaune picked her up.

"Jaune!" Arslan yelled, struggling to free herself with an angry expression on her face.

"If you don't calm down, I'll never do that thing you like **ever again".** Jaune threatened and Arslan stopped struggling, replacing her angry expression with a worried one.

"You wouldn't?"

"Never again."

Arslan thought about this for a moment. Nadir has had this ass kicking coming for a while now... But if she does, Jaune won't... She took a deep breath before speaking. "Fine." She gave in, with only a mild grumpy expression on her face now.

Satisfied, Jaune set her down. "Thank you." He thanked before hugging her from behind, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Aw, that's..." Reese paused for a second. "Pfft. Jaune, what are you wearing?" She was trying not to laugh.

Arslan released herself from Jaune's embrace. She turned herself around to get a good look at the other blonde. "A-are you wearing..."

"It's so cute." Reese cooed.

"A-Adorable bunny slippers..." Arslan said, staring at said slippers.

"H-Hey, you two." Jaune said worriedly, waving his hand in front of the two girl's faces. "Can we please change the subject?" He asked, Starting to feel uncomfortable.

Arslan had to shake her head to break this trance that those bunnies had put her in. "*Ahem* Yes, sorry about that..." She apologized.

"I want a pair..." Reese said, still staring at Jaune's onesie.

* * *

 **That's it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dad, who are you?**

* * *

What else could she do? Ruby left with Jaune, Nora and Ren to head to Haven. Dad was surprisingly calm and left about an hour ago to get groceries. " **I'll make your favorite dish tonight. How does that sound?"** He asked and she gave him a small smile in agreement. She agreed, more so to help him feel better than for herself.

So, while her dad was out she decided to... rummage. It's not like she could do much else with one arm. There was a small room in their house that was used for storage. Mostly for holiday decorations but also contained stuff from when dad was younger. Maybe this could occupy her for awhile.

She found a brown leather bound photo album with photos of her dad and his old team. She sat down in an old wooden chair that was stored in the room and flipped through the album seeing how happy they all looked, it reminded her of her own team before... She frowned, this was actual starting to get depressed now and made to close the album but stopped when one of the photos fell onto the floor.

Yang let out a sigh, put the album down and bent over to pick up the photo. Once sat up again she examined the back of the photo which had _Team STRQ has arrived! Written on the back._ It was a picture of what looked to be when team STRQ first formed with all members standing on a stage of some kind.

Dad who had a lighter complexion than he does now. He was wearing a button up brown leather vest over a light grey hoodie with short sleeves, fingerless brown leather gloves, light brown work pants and a pair of black work shoes. He seemed to be blushing from embarrassment.

Hidden behind her dad was Summer Rose with only her head being somewhat visible on his right side. seeing as she was also wearing her white hood.

Clinging to his left arm was... Raven, her mother. She was wearing a black dress with matching gauntlets and thigh high boots. She's probably why he's embarrassed.

Finally there was Uncle Qrow standing to dad's right. He was wearing a dark grey dress shirt, a necklace with a crooked cross pendant, black dress pants and matching shoes.

Yang went to put the picture back into the album but noticed something a little odd. Dad seemed to have a sword clipped to his belt, different from the one he uses now. It had a thick white blade... or is that a sheath?

She shrugged and put the picture back just in between the cover and first page. "Looked familiar, maybe it's in here somewhere." She said out loud, putting the album back where she found it.

After a couple of minutes she uncovered an old black chest with a heavy metal lock that she found once before when she was little. She tugged on the lock only to have it come undone and fall to the floor. There was probably a reason for the chest being locked but Yang let her curiosity get the better of her. She opened it.

"..." The first object to catch her attention was a sword in a white sheath with two golden marks on the face. It resembled the one in the picture but she knows she has seen it before and very recently.

She examined the object more closely and found that there were two switches on the sheath near the golden hilt of the sword. One black and the other red. She flicked the red one and the sheath shifted slightly into a thick blade.

"That's more like it." She said, gripping the blue handle of the sword. It was heavy but could probably get the job done.

Yang flicked the red switch again, changing it back to a sheath. "Now, what do you do?" She asked, looking at the black switch.

She paused for a moment, looking over the sheathed blade for a second time. She knows she has seen it somewhere before. While looking over the object she accidentally hit the black switch which caused the sheath to quickly a rather violently expand into a heater shield. The rapid transformation surprised Yang, causing her to drop the shield with the still sheathed sword. Yang stared wide eyed at the shield lying at her feet. "Wha-?" On the face of the shield was a golden emblem that she was fairly familiar with. Double crescent arcs.

A few ideas popped into Yang's head as to why her dad would have this. Maybe it belonged to a fallen friend? Or it's a replica? It's also not impossible that he could be related to the Arcs. He does resemble Jaune a bit. Given that Jaune has like seven sisters it could probably be assumed that he has a pretty large family and dad could be an uncle or something.

"Hm, I can ask dad when he gets back. He might not be happy about this though..." She said aloud, picking up the shield and flicking the black switch to change it back into a sheath. She set the object down next to the chest when she thought of something else. "Isn't there only supposed to be one of these?" Shrugging, she reached into the chest to pick up a turned over picture frame but stopped when she heard footsteps in the hallway just outside of this room.

Assuming it was her dad, Yang called out. "Dad, I'm in here!"

"Sorry, daddy isn't here." Came a menacing male voice from behind her.

Yang froze. She recognized that voice. Slowly she turned around to face the intruder. "You..."

"Nice house you've got here." Adam commented, slowly stalking towards Yang. He held his sheathed weapon in his left hand.

She quickly grabbed the sheathed sword she found in the chest and flicked the red switch, changing the sheath into a thick blade. (i)"Okay, I really hope what little training I've had with a sword is good enough."(i) Yang thought as Adam stepped closer.

"Huh, you seem a little... lopsided. Like me to fix that?" The Faunus asked, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. His lips curled up in a wicked smirk.

"Thanks, but I'm good." Yang stood still with her own sword held in front of her. She knew better than to just rush forward and attack given what happened last time.

"Have it your way." He stopped four feet in front of her, his weapon ready.

The two stood there without moving. Each waiting for the other to make a move. This went on for almost a minute when...

"Yang, sweetie where are you? I got ribs and something a little extra."

Dad's home.

Adam cursed under his breath. He took his eyes off of Yang, looking over his right shoulder at the open door. A mistake on his part.

Yang took this opportunity to raise her sword overhead before bringing it down in a downward slash. The strike meant for the intruder was blocked by his partially unsheathed blade, making a loud clang.

"Yang!" Her dad called out from somewhere in the house.

Using his weapon, Adam pushed against Yang's own blade to knock her off balance. She fell on her rear, dropping the sword in the process. He was about to finish her, attempting to completely unsheathe his sword only to stop when a strong tattooed arm wrapped around his neck from behind.

"Get away from my daughter!" Taiyang ordered angrily, keeping a tight hold on the intruding attacker.

Adam released the hilt of his blade letting it re-sheath itself. He aimed the butt of the sheathed sword at Taiyang's head and squeezed the trigger, launching the sword hilt first colliding with the blond's head. This caused Taiyang to release his hold on Adam and stumble back. Adam quickly spun around to face Taiyang, his sword already sheathed and ready to attack.

Taiyang had his left hand placed over his forehead where he was struck. He used his right hand to draw the thick bladed sword with a golden colored handle that was clipped to his left on his belt. He then removed his left hand from his forehead to double hand the sword. He took his stance, prepared to defend his daughter and himself. "You need to leave!"

"..." Adam's response was to charge forward and swiftly draw his red blade in an upward slash. Taiyang positioned his own sword to block the strike only for it to be cut clean through by Adam's and leaving a lengthy gash from Taiyang's abdomen to his left shoulder. Adam then aimed his firearm at Taiyang's chest and squeezed the trigger, sending the blond flying out of the room through the door.

"Dad!" Yang screamed, her eyes turning red. She grabbed the sword she used earlier and stood up.

Adam turned back around to see that Yang was standing and angry with a sword in her hand. He smirked, re-sheathing his sword.

* * *

 **That's it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**_I am still debating if this she be considered crossover or not..._**

* * *

 ** _Back to dust_**

* * *

 **One** year after the fall of Beacon

"I found her by the pond." Velvet said, standing just outside of Yang and Jaune's blue tent that was set up with two other tents around a campfire. The sun was just starting to set.

"Can we speak with her, please?" Ren asked, he and Nora wanting to ask Yang an important question.

"Not right now, she needs rest and..." Velvet trailed off, breaking eye contact with Ren.

"He's gone, isn't he."

Both Velvet and Ren looked to Nora, surprised by what she said.

"Nora-" Velvet stopped when Nora turned and quickly walked away. Ren soon followed after her.

Meanwhile in the blue tent Yang lay on top of her dark yellow sleeping bag. She knew the question and hated the answer.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, clutching the sheathed sword closer.

Five hours earlier

Jaune felt a cold metal hand gingerly take hold of his own fleshy left hand. He smiled and looked to the owner of the metal hand. "Hey." He greeted.

"Hey." Yang greeted back with her own smile. She was holding his sheath in her left hand. "We're all set up for the night, wanna train?"

"There isn't really anything else I can show you..."

"You never know." She said, dragging the blond out of their shared blue tent.

The sun would be setting in a few hours so their group decided to set up camp in a small clearing in the woods. Along with their blue tent, Ruby and Velvet had their maroon tent to the left while Ren and Nora had a green one to the right. A campfire was being prepared by Velvet while Ren was going to get supper ready.

Yang dragged Jaune up to Ruby to let her know they would be off training for a little bit.

"Okay, be careful." Ruby waved with a small smile as the two blondes walked away from the campsite.

As soon as they were out of sight her smile turned into a frown and she adopted a worried expression. " _It's been over a month now, she's become to reliant on his shield."_

It took the blondes a few minutes to reach another small clearing on the edge of a pond.

"Okay, how about a little spar first?" Jaune asked drawing his sword.

Yang nodded, taking the sheath in her left and transforming it into a shield while the bracelet on her metallic right wrist changed into a gauntlet.

Just as they were about to start...

"Yang, look out!" Jaune warned.

Yang managed to block a powerful strike from a heavy metal boot with the shield. The strike was strong enough to send her into the pond.

She managed to get back to shore half a minute later with the shield and her gauntlet in their more compact forms.

"*Cough* Jaune! *cough*" She was on her hands and knees, coughing up water. She looked up and what she saw terrified her. Jaune was on his knees, arms loosely to his side with his sword abandoned on the ground next to him. A black arrow was sticking out of his gut.

"No." She made to get up and help him but was stopped by a figure in a dark grey cloak. A heavy metal foot shoved her back onto her rear.

"Stay down, this doesn't concern you." That voice...

Yang's eyes turned red. "Mercury!?" She grit her teeth in rage, jumping to her feet. She wanted to pummel him to the ground but another look a Jaune told her otherwise. He needed help more than Mercury needed a beating. She tried to push past Mercury only for him to blow some sort of green powder into her face.

"Take a nap."

Yang fell to her knees, coughing up a fit from the powder. "*Cough* No, Jaune." She felt weak, starting to loose consciousness. The last thing she saw was a woman in a red dress and glass heels walk up to Jaune, placing a hand on his cheek and then the grass around him set on fire before it began to engulf him.

* * *

Slowly she woke. The sun was starting to set.

"Ugh... What happened?" It took her a moment before recalling what happened "Jaune!" She sat up quickly, looking around trying to find...

A little ways away she could see the blade of his sword stuck in the ground where a fire once burned. There was a pile of white dust or ash too.

"No." She grabbed the sheath to her left before stumbling over to the sword and... It's dust.

 _Man is born from dust, and will always returns to dust._

She fell to her knees, dropping the sheath in the process. "No." Her voice was shaky.

"Please." Yang shakily moved her left hand towards the dust, scooping some up in her palm.

"Why?" Tears began to well up as she closed her left hand still with the dust into a fist. "Everyone I care for leaves me, why?"

Tears started rolling down her cheeks, dripping onto her clenched fist. "Mom, Summer, Blake... Jaune."

She wasn't sure how long she sat there when Velvet showed up.

"Yang, what happened!?" The bunny eared girl asked, kneeling next to Yang who was clutching Jaune's sheathed sword close.

"I'm sorry." Yang whispered, not looking at Velvet.

Velvet looked around the area but the only thing of note was the pile of... White dust and scorched grass.

"Oh no..." She whispered, looking back to Yang and placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Yang, we should go."

"No."

The sounds of Beowolves howling in the distance could be heard.

"We need to get back." Velvet didn't give Yang time to protest, quickly slinging the blonde over her shoulder and running as fast as she could towards their camp.

The next day, sunrise

A proper service as they could manage was held early that morning. Velvet had gathered the white dust while Nora carved his name and family crest onto a large rock that was as big as she was tall.

They all gathered by the pond, Nora having placed the large rock on top of the scorched grass and Velvet held Ren's favorite cooking pot to hold the dust. The pot wasn't traditional but it was all they had.

They were all so quiet, barely speaking a word to each other especially Ruby and Yang. The older sister never let go of his weapon since she was brought back to camp.

They each spoke a few words.

"He was and still is my best friend." Ruby spoke with watery eyes.

"He was... No, is my brother and I wish I had properly conveyed that to him. I'm sorry, Jaune." Ren finished, wiping away his tears before they fell.

"Jaune... He's the best leader, no offense Ruby. He's my brother and always will be no matter what. *sniff*" Nora said with a sad smile.

"He's a good friend and a good person. He would never discriminate against any person or group of people, always willing to help those who needed it." Velvet spoke, her face expressionless.

Yang was next, she still held his weapon close. "He let me use his shield because it made me feel safe when I held it. He showed me how to use it properly." She tightened her grip on the sheathed sword. "When I needed it, he would share his aura with me to ease my pain." She rubbed her metallic arm. "He's such a good friend and I never got the chance to repay him... I'm sorry, Jaune." Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the end.

The ceremony concluded with Jaune's dust being poured into a hole in the ground at the base of the rock that was being used as his grave marker.

"Yang, can we talk?" Ruby asked her sister who had just finished picking up her tent.

Yang nodded. "Sure." She had Crocea Mors clipped to her left hip.

Ruby stared at the weapon for a moment before continuing. "His sword..."

Yang's left hand took hold of the grip. She let out a sigh before speaking. "I know, I'll take it to his-" She was cut off by Ruby.

"No, draw the blade."

Yang looked at her sister in confusion but eventually complied, drawing the sword from it's sheath. She stood there, holding the blade awkwardly in her right hand.

Ruby ran her fingers along the flat of the blade from the base to the tip. "You know how to use the shield?"

Yang nodded.

Ruby nodded back. "Okay, I want to teach you how to use the sword."

"W-What?!" Yang asked in shock.

"I don't think he would want it to just sit and rust."

"But, why me?"

Ruby smiled at her sister. "Because, he'd want it to be you." She answered simply.

About four months later

Ruby, Yang, Ren, Nora and Velvet had arrived at the Capitol city of Atlas. Home of the Atlas academy, the Schnee dust company head offices and...

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, tackling her partner to the ground.

"I've missed you too but get off of me, we're in the middle of the road!" Weiss yelled as she and Ruby lay on the ground in the middle of the road. Cars were honking their horns as the two teens blocked their way.

Ruby stood and helped Weiss to her feet. They both walked to where Yang, Ren, Nora and Velvet stood by the entrance to a park.

Weiss greeted each of them with a hug. She took notice of the sheathed sword clipped to Yang's hip. "I thought Jaune was with you, did something happen?" She asked with a frown.

A little while later, Schnee mansion

"I'm sorry about what happened to your friend." Winter said, sitting in a black leather arm chair. She had her hair down and is wearing a plain baby blue t-shirt, lounge pants and slippers.

Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Velvet shared a black leather couch to the left of Winter while Ren occupied a second armchair with Nora sitting on his lap. They were all seated around a wooden coffee table.

"Thank you." Ruby said quietly. "Weiss mentioned that you had a run in with someone associated with Cinder Fall?"

Winter nodded and pulled out her scroll. "Yes, I was injured while in pursuit of possibly one of her associates." She dragged her finger up her scroll's screen quickly, six holographic images appeared above the coffee table.

Each image showed a person wearing different colored cloaks that hid their identities. Dark grey, dark green, hot pink, black, white and beige.

"These were taken either by street cameras or by patrol droids." Winter continued, tapping her screen a few times. "Most of these individuals have done well to conceal their identities except for..." The image of the dark green cloak wearer changed to one that better showed her face. "Emerald Sustrai..." The one with the hot pink cloak now showed a girl with long blonde hair tied in a pony tail and blue eyes. "... And we believe she is Neopolitan." Winter finished, letting everyone view the images.

"When were these taken?" Ren asked.

"The one of Emerald Sustrai was taken last week while the one we believe is Neopolitan was taken this morning." Winter answered.

"Are you sure that the other four are associated with Emerald and Neo?" Velvet asked, looking closely at the other images.

"Positive." More images appeared showing Emerald or Neo with one of the other cloak wearers. "At one point or another all six of these individuals have been seen with another."

Everyone examined the pictures for a moment before Yang spoke up. "Do you have any idea who the other four may be?"

Winter sat back in her chair and crossed her left leg over the right. "All we really have are their genders. Dark grey and White are both male and the rest female. If I had to guess I'd say dark grey is Mercury Black. Again, that is my guess."

"What about Black, White and Beige?" Ruby asked.

Winter uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. "I would say, do not confront white."

"Why?"

Winter tapped on her screen a few more times, the images disappeared and video appeared above the coffee table. "This was recorded by one of my accompanying droids while we were in pursuit of Black and Beige. It's staticky and the sound is distorted a bit."

 **Video**

It was night time. The recording showed two figures, one in a black cloak and another in a beige cloak running down a street with a flickering street light.

"Halt!" Winter was in pursuit followed by an armed droid along with the one recording.

As they ran, Beige took hold of Black's left hand and dragged her into an alleyway. "Br_er!" The sound of the video became distorted for a moment as Beige spoke.

Winter came to a stop at the alley's entrance while the other droid slowly moved further in. It was a dead end Black and Beige standing behind White. All three were facing Winter and her two droids.

"You _ree are under arrest _ order of the Atlas _ilitary, please come quiet_." Winter spoke, hand hovering over the grip of her still sheathed saber.

Black moved as if she were reaching for her weapon only for white to hold out his left hand to stop her. His right hand moved to his left hip and drew a rapier.

Winter also drew her saber. "I will _se force if neces_."

Black and Beige took a few steps back and with the flick of White's left wrist a blood red glyph of an unknown design appeared under the two before they were shot up to the rooftop of one of the buildings around them. Away from Winter and the droids.

"Halt!" Winter screamed.

The blade of White's rapier shifted, turning the sword into a pistol with a bayonet. Two gunshots later and the video ended.

 **End video**

"He shot the two droids accompanying me and then after a fight... I was rendered unconscious. I woke up the next morning in the hospital." Winter said.

Everyone stared at Winter with mild shock. Someone was able to best Winter Schnee.

Weiss shook her head slightly. "That glyph he used, it looked familiar."

"As it should." A detailed holographic image of the glyph in question replaced the video. It was blood red in color with multiple wavy intertwining lines with occasional small wings attached. "We've studied all glyph types, even those belonging to other families." Winter finished.

Weiss looked at the image for a moment before speaking. "Cainhurst? But, they were supposed to be wiped out long ago."

"Apparently not."

Ruby raised her hand. She had a question.

"The Cainhurst family was supposedly wiped out a few hundred years ago by a few members of the... Arc family." Winter said, getting quiet when mentioning the Arc family.

After a few seconds of silence, Ruby spoke quietly. "Why?"

"I can't say."

Silence filled the room again.

"So..." Yang began, breaking the silence. "Any idea on where they might be hiding out?"

"Well..."

Evening, across the street from The Tipton hotel

"How can fugitives running from the law afford to stay at a prestigious hotel?" Yang asked her sister and Velvet. All three were hiding in a bush located on the edge of the park.

Velvet shrugged. "Just because they're on the run doesn't mean they don't have money."

"I guess..." Yang said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Shush!" Ruby shushed the two and pointed at the entrance of the hotel.

The short girl with blonde hair tied in a ponytail and blue eyes stepped onto the street. She was wearing a short sleeved black hoodie with orange lining that exposed her mid drift with a cute grey bunny face on the chest. She also had black fingerless gloves, blue jean short shorts and a pair of black stiletto heels. She didn't have on the hot pink cloak.

"Is that her?" Velvet asked.

"She's definitely short enough." Yang answered, keeping her eyes locked on the short blonde.

The short blonde that was supposedly Neo waited just outside the entrance for a couple of minutes before two more people exited the hotel. One was a girl with green eyes and long light blue hair tied into twin ponytails on either side of her head. She was wearing a beige turtleneck long sleeved sweater, dark blue jeans and white sneakers. She is just slightly shorter than Yang and Velvet.

The other was White with his cloak on to hide his face but showing what he wore underneath. A button up brown leather vest over a light grey long sleeve shirt, fingerless brown leather gloves with some kind of circular black gem on the back of the right one, light brown work pants with a black belt and a pair of black work shoes. He didn't seem to have a weapon on him.

They stopped to chat while waiting to cross the street towards the park. Still couldn't get a look at White's face. As they crossed the street, White whispered something to the blue haired girl while positioning his cloak to cover the rest of his body.

The blue haired girl took hold of the short blonde's left hand. She seemed to tense up a bit.

As the three reached the entrance to the park, White seemingly disappeared leaving behind white flower petals. After he disappeared, the other two girls took off in a mad dash further into the park.

"Shit, after the-" Yang was interrupted when a white blur and petals passed by. She along with Ruby and Velvet were blown out of their hiding spot by a powerful blast of air. They recovered a few seconds later and stood up, facing White who still had his body covered by the cloak.

"Stop!" Ruby ordered, disappearing with only red Rose petals being left behind. White disappeared immediately after Ruby did.

All Yang and Velvet could see was a white blur followed by a red blur moving rapidly around them before disappearing into the distance.

"Ruby!" Yang called out when she couldn't see the two blurs anymore.

Velvet had quickly taken her scroll out and dialed a number before bringing it to her ear. "Speed!?" She asked, waiting for the other end to answer.

"N-No, glyphs!" Yang answered back, not sounding so sure herself.

"I know glyphs and I know speed." Velvet pointed in the direction the blurs went. "That was speed!"

Somewhere out of sight of the park on the street with Weiss, Nora and Ren

"Whoa!" Nora was almost hit by white and red blurs.

"Ruby?!" Weiss asked in shock as the blurs disappeared around the corner of a building.

Just then the Heiress' scroll vibrated and she answered it. "Hello?"

["It's Velvet. Ruby just took off after White and the other two got away!"] Velvet's voice came over Weiss' scroll.

"White!?"

Nora shoved her head in between Weiss' and her scroll. "Yeah, they almost ran me over!"

Ren took out his scroll and searched through his contacts. "White? I'll call Ruby, maybe she can-"

"Wait!" Weiss yelled

["No!"] Yang's voice could be heard over the scroll.

It was too late, his finger already tapped on Ruby's icon.

The horn of a car and screeching of tires on pavement could be heard coming from the next street over.

Weiss, Ren and Nora rushed over to the next street. Upon arriving, they saw White with his arms wrapped around Ruby on the opposite side of the street.

"Ruby!" Weiss called out.

White quickly let go of Ruby who was now kneeling on the sidewalk and gripped the hilt of the large curved sword on his left hip before disappearing, leaving behind white flower petals.

Weiss ran across the street and kneeled down in front of her partner, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Oh god, What happened? Are you okay?"

Ruby didn't answer so Weiss pulled away to look at her. If Weiss had to describe the her partner's expression...

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Nora commented as she and Ren stood close by.

"I am so sorry, Ruby." Ren apologized but again, she didn't respond.

"Ruby, what's wrong? Talk to us." Weiss begged.

Ruby spoke, saying something almost too quiet to hear.

 _"Jaune."_

* * *

 **This chapter I actually finished.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So... This is a way more depressing version of Back to Dust. this was actually the first version that I got finished. **

* * *

**Back to Dust (original)  
**

* * *

 **(Jaune's POV)**

It started out with just the four of us. Ruby, Ren, Nora and myself. We referred to ourselves as team Ranger (JRNR) with Ruby and I sharing the roll of leader.

We're close, like a family...

And like a family we support each other. When Ruby is up in the middle of the night because of the nightmares she has, I'm there for her. It makes me feel... Useful. Useful that I'm actually able to help someone...

This went on for about three months until we arrived at the village of Sloan. That's where we ran into Weiss and Yang. Apparently with the help of her sister, Weiss managed to get away from her father and head to Patch in search of Ruby and Yang. She quickly found out that Ruby had left for Haven. Weiss then managed to convince Yang to come with her to find her red themed partner. As soon as Ruby saw Weiss and Yang, the younger girl disappeared leaving a trail of Rose petals as she tackled the two to the ground in a hug.

That night and every night after when Ruby had another nightmare, Weiss was there to comfort her. I felt a little useless again even though it shouldn't bother me this much. I'm not completely useless, right?

About a week later I took notice of something a little odd. Yang seemed a bit more irritable than she has been. She told everyone that it was just because of what happened to her and it was nothing to worry about. I almost bought it until one night when we were camping out in a forest when I found her sat against a tree with a pained look on her face while she held onto the stump where her arm once was. She had taken the last of her pain medicine and was understandably in pain. I did what I could to help, taking a seat next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She began to relax when I let some of his aura flow into her, numbing the pain.

Since that night we remained close to each other. Whenever she needed a little relief I was right there for her. During the day we always walked close to each other and even shared the same bed at night. Even after getting more medicine she would always choose me over it. Again, I felt useful...

But, just like before it didn't last.

About a four months later while traveling through a one of the many swamp like areas of Mistral, we heard the sound of gunfire. Upon investigation we saw a familiar black bow wearing beauty who had just finished off some disgusting swamp dwelling Grimm. She saw us and ran. Yang took off after her immediately, punching the runaway hard upon catching her. After a tearful confrontation the two embraced each other.

From then on Yang relied on Blake to relieve her pain. I didn't feel useless this time. Because, I knew I could fight. As long as I could do that...

As long...

A month passed and we could see the outer wall of Haven. Our destination. We were so close that nothing could go wrong...

It did.

We were attacked by a pair of two people. Our attackers were both wearing black cloaks with hoods that hid their faces. The only defining feature they both possessed were piercing red eyes. They were terrifying but they both seemed... familiar somehow, like the one I fought along with Ren and Nora was someone we knew very well.

During the fight one of the attackers did something to me. She grabbed me and recited a chant. Her demonic voice still echoed in my head.

 _"Never will you achieve immortality. You will fall into despair, followed swiftly by death. I cage your soul and by my doing, swallow the key."_

Once done she released me and I fell to the ground. I could barely move and there was this searing pain throughout my entire body. All I could do was lay there on my back, helpless as everyone else around me fought.

I passed out shortly after.

* * *

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

I woke up in a hospital bed to the sound of a heart monitor. I wasn't in as much pain as before so I tried to move but was barely able to lift my left arm which had an IV stuck in it. The most I could manage was to turn my head to the left and look out the window, the sun was just starting to set.

"What do you mean there's nothing more you can do!?" Someone screamed just outside the door to my room. Weiss?

"I'm sorry, the most we can do now is make him comfortable until-"

"Don't apologize and don't give up, just help him!" Another demanded. Yang.

"Please, we've done everything in our power. There is nothing else we can do besides making him comfortable... I'm sorry."

"..."

There was silence for a moment before a quiet voice spoke up. "How long?"

...Ruby.

"A week."

Again, silence.

I can only assume they're talking about me.

I managed to turn my head to the right as the door opened and a man in a white lab coat walked in. He was followed closely by my friends with Ren being the last to enter, closing the door behind him. They all gathered around my bed, some looking angry but most looking sad.

The doctor explained my condition. My aura was locked away by one of our attackers. Normally it would be fairly simple to unlock it again, but...

"We can't unlock your aura. We've had multiple people make an attempt. Myself, other doctors, nurses and even a few experienced hunters but we just can't do it." The doctor finished, waiting for me or someone else speak.

I waited a moment before asking the question I already knew the answer to. "Am I... Am I going to be okay?"

"I'm sorry, Mister Arc. The manner in which your aura was locked is proving to be... fatal."

"How long?" Again, I know the answer.

"We've estimated about one week."

The only sound that could be heard in that room was the sound of the heart monitor. No one spoke, probably didn't know what to say.

This went on for a couple if minutes before the doctor had to leave. It took another five minutes before anyone spoke.

To my left, Weiss stepped closer to my bed. "I-Is there any-anything we can do?" Her voice was shaky and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

"No thank you." I shake my head with a small smile. I want to try and keep their spirits up as much as possible. They've been through enough.

"O-Okay, just let us know if you do." Weiss said before stepping back in between Yang and Ren.

A minute barely passed when Weiss spoke again. "How about some TV? Yes, TV sounds good." She then quickly walked over to the stand by my bed and grabbed the white remote. The TV flicked on with the press of a button, the local news on the screen. "What would you like to watch?"

"Whatever anyone else wants." I responded.

Weiss looked at me with a frown and was about to say something else before Nora whispered something into her ear. The TV channel was changed to show a cartoon from when I was a kid. A girl with short pink hair and glowing pink wings appeared on the screen.

Everyone took a seat to watch the TV. Ruby and Weiss sat in a couple of chairs to the right of my bed, Ren sat in a chair to the left, Yang and Blake sat together on the window seat and finally Nora laid in bed with me to the left.

It wasn't long before Weiss broke down a little. Silent sniffles could barely be heard. Ruby was doing what she could to comfort her partner, telling her it's okay to let it out.

This is going to be a long week for them.

 **Morning of the first day**

I was the first one awake. Yang and Blake were leaning against each other in the window seat, Ruby, Weiss and Ren were leaning forward in their chairs with their heads resting on the bed while Nora stayed snuggled up next to me in the left. The TV was left on all night, apparently a marathon of that cartoon.

I was wholly planning on letting them all sleep. But the doctor entered the room, waking everyone up. All he did was come in to see how I was feeling before promptly leaving.

"Do you want something to eat?" Weiss was the first to speak.

"Sure." I answered back.

She then left and returned soon after with a bowl of oatmeal. The bowl was handed to Nora so she could hold it while Ren stood to my right and fed me.

It seemed like Ren has done this before. It was going easily, until his spoon holding hand started to shake. I looked up to see a few tears slide down is cheeks. The bowl that Nora held also started to shake. They both apologized and had to excuse themselves from the room. Weiss took over while Yang and Blake went to make sure Nora and Ren were okay.

While she fed me, she shared something rather personal. Her mother went through the same thing I am. It's why she was taking all of this so hard.

She finished and Yang, Blake, Ren and Nora returned. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful with everyone taking back their respective spots.

 **Afternoon of the second day**

I woke up much later the next day. Except for Nora, everyone else was awake and watching TV with that cartoon still playing.

"Jaune?" Blake whispered to get my attention and not wake Nora.

"Yeah?"

"Is this cartoon just a villain of the day with the same villain everyday?" She asked.

I nod my head in response. "Yeah, someone can change the channel if they want." I suggested.

"No!" Was every awake individual's immediate response which unfortunately woke Nora.

The pink bomber lifted her head slightly. "Guys, I'm trying to sleep." She complained, yawning cutely.

"S-Sorry, we'll be quiet." Ruby apologized.

Nora groaned before lying back down and snuggling closer to me, falling back asleep.

I was actually feeling pretty tired now too. But, I just woke up.

 **Morning of the third day**

They're still watching this cartoon? I'm not complaining, it's just they haven't seemed to change the channel at all.

Anyway, I made the suggestion that they all get our for a day. It's probably not good to stay cooped up for this long. It took awhile but they did eventually leave. I assumed that they would go out and see the city. Sun and his team were from here so maybe they'd all hang out for a day.

If a day lasted for an hour, then they did just that.

They returned and with them were teams SSSN and ABRN. They were all here to see me.

We all talked for a little bit. I didn't really know anyone from ARBN but they seemed really nice, especially Nadir.

They had to leave after a couple of hours since I was starting to doze off. Before leaving, their leader Arslan gave me an unexpected hug. It was odd, she didn't seem like the type to do something like that.

 **Before sunrise of the fifth day**

I apparently slept all day yesterday. Even now I was having trouble staying awake. The TV was still on and everyone but Yang was still asleep. She must have gotten up early to take her pain medicine seeing as Blake was still sound asleep.

I had an idea. I wasn't sure if it would work but it couldn't hurt to ask. "Yang, can you see if a doctor is around?" I whispered.

"Sure." She whispered back before leaving the room.

She returned a few minutes later with my usual doctor. I had him lean over so I cold whisper into his ear.

After asking my question, he stood up and gave me a very concerned look. "Mister Arc, I would highly advise against this." He whispered in concern.

"Please, could it be done?"

The doctor glanced over at Yang for a second before looking back to me. "We can, but maybe you should talk it over with Miss Xiao Long first." He suggested, gesturing for Yang to come closer.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Mister Arc asked me if it was possible to perform a transplant surgery."

"Transplant, for what?"

"An arm. He wants to give you his arm."

Yang just stood there in stunned silence for what seemed like forever. She eventually looked down at me with teary eyes. "Y-You're willing to do that, for me?"

I smile and nod my head in response.

"*Sniff* Jaune..." She was on top of me in an instant, gripping tightly to my hospital gown. I could feel her tears drip onto my right shoulder as she thanked me over and over again.

The doctor left soon after, he needed to get some paperwork filled out if this was to happen today.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked sleepily. Her along with everyone else being woken up from the commotion.

I explained what was going on and they all seemed as surprised as Yang was at first.

"Wait, how are you going to pay for this?" Ren ended up asking.

"I have a bank account that my parents opened when I was born. It's been building up for years, we can use the money in that."

"Jaune, thank you so much." Yang thanked him again, not moving from her spot on top of him.

 **After sunset of the fifth day**

 **(Ruby's POV)**

We were moved to a larger room that was big enough to contain two beds. Jaune was the first to be brought in and set up by the window, he was unconscious at the moment. They had to take his entire arm from the shoulder down.

Yang was brought in a few minutes later, awake but drugged up. Her new and slightly larger arm was all bandaged up.

Weiss, Blake and I gathered around my sister's bed while Ren and Nora stuck close to Jaune's.

"Hey, how you feeling?" I asked, examining her new arm.

"Little loopy. Can't move the arm yet but the doctor said that's normal. How's Jaune?"

"He's still asleep right now." I answered.

We heard a knock on the door before the doctor entered the room. "Hey, we need to talk."

"Is everything okay?" Weiss asked, clear concern in her voice.

The doctor sighed before answering. "As you can see the surgery was a success. But, Jaune doesn't have much time left."

That's right, it's been about a week.

"How much longer does he have?" Ren asked, his voice cracking slightly.

The doctor shook his head. "We're not entirely sure. It could be tonight or sometime tomorrow. I'm sorry.

We all stayed silent for a few minutes before Weiss spoke again. "Can we turn off the heart monitor? We won't need it."

The doctor nodded. "I understand." He said, making his way over to the monitor and switching it off. "I'll leave you for now." He finished before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

We all stared at Jaune for a few minutes before we heard the TV being turned on.

"In case he wakes up." Blake said with a sad smile.

 **Late evening of the sixth day**

He didn't.

He didn't wake up all last night or today. The doctor came by earlier and seemed a little surprised that Jaune was still... around.

Everyone had fallen asleep not to long ago. Blake sat in a chair behind me with her head resting on the left side of Yang's bed, Weiss was next to me with her head resting on the right side if Jaune's bed while Ren and Nora were doing the same on the left side of his bed. I stayed awake but I don't know if I can for much longer.

He looks so peaceful with the gentle rise and fall if his chest. I brush some stray hair from in front of his closed eyes.

*Sniff*

I wipe away a tear that started rolling down my cheek and lean over so I was close enough to whisper into his ear without waking the others.

"Jaune, It's me Ruby. I'm not sure if you can hear me right now but there's something I need to tell you. Even if none of us have said it before, but we love you. You're our best friend. Our brother... Our family. I hope you know this because it's true."

*Drip*

*Drip*

I can feel tears rolling down my cheek as I press my lips against his forehead. "We love you so much." My voice was shaky. I lay my head down next to his and just let myself cry as quietly as I could. I stayed like this for a bit and when I could feel myself drifting off...

 _"I love you too. All of you"_

My head shot up. "Jaune?!"

He was asleep.

But I heard him, he was awake for a second. Long enough to speak.

I smiled and set my head back down next to his.

 **The next morning**

White dust.

That's all that was left when I woke up that morning. After all...

 _Man is born from dust and will always return to dust._

I took a deep breath before gently nudging Weiss awake and soon everyone else. We all looked to where our brother once laid, holding back our tears.

Weiss took out six very small dust canisters and one large canister, all of them are empty. We all took turns placing some of the white dust into our own canister. We put the rest into the large canister so he can finish our journey with us.

We didn't speak as we helped Yang get dressed, she was discharging herself today whether the hospital would let her or not.

Blake made sure to turn off the TV before we left, having long since stopped playing that cartoon.

On our way out the doctor was nice enough to provide Yang a sling for her new arm.

We left that hospital and went on our way to finish the journey we started.


	6. Chapter 6

**There's going to be an aurthor's note in the middle of this because I can't describe weapons good so I'll just tell you what they are.**

 **Also, there is some heavily implied... Well, you know me.**

* * *

 **Never forget my family**

* * *

 **Late evening of the sixth day**

 **(Emerald's POV)**

With Neo masking our presence we were able to stand in the middle of the room. We were just waiting for the Rose girl to fall asleep.

I watched as the young girl placed a kiss on her dying friend's forehead and telling him "We love you so much." Before resting her head next to his.

Maybe I can give her a little comfort. She might not see him again.

I place a hand gently on Neo's shoulder in a gesture to wait. I then focus on the young girl in red.

 _"I love you too. All of you"_

She shot her head up in surprise. "Jaune?!"

She stared at the the boy for a second before smiling and resting her head next to his again.

We waited a few minutes after this once we could hear soft snores coming from Ruby. I looked down at Neo and she nodded at me.

It's time.

Neo quickly wheeled in a wheelchair from out in the hallway to the foot of his bed. She and I managed to slide him out of bed and into the wheelchair while not waking the others in the room. I made sure to leave some fake white dust in his bed. We then wheeled the blond out of the room and soon the hospital itself.

 **One hour later**

We arrived at the small abandoned cabin just outside Haven's wall. We 'borrowed' a car to get here faster. Neo was able to drive while I sat in the backseat with our passenger to keep an eye on him.

I carried him on my back into the cabin. He's not exactly light.

"Lay him down on a bed!" Mercury ordered the second I stepped through the door. He was making something using an antique stove at the far left side of the cabin.

I carried our guest to the far right of the cabin where a couple of old beds with red blankets were ready. One was closer to the door than the other. I set him onto the one further from the door and covered him with a blanket.

I could hear the car we arrived in drive off. Neo had to bring it back to the city before the owner noticed it was missing.

A few minutes passed before Mercury came over carrying a glass cup filled with a light blue liquid. "It's ready." Was all he said before kneeling beside the head of the bed. He was able to get Jaune to drink the liquid.

"What now?"

"All we can do now is wait. Probably an hour." He responded, looking at his scroll for the time.

 **Forty seven minutes later**

Mercury left a few minutes ago to take care of some Creeps that were prowling around near the cabin. He told me to keep an eye on our guest. Like I haven't been doing that since I brought him in.

"God, I hope you're willing to at least listen to us." I say, adjusting the blanket to keep him covered.

I notice that he doesn't seem to be in any pain. Maybe that stuff Mercury gave him was working. He said after an hour it should be safe to make an attempt at unlocking his aura.

I turn away for a second to look at the door, wondering what was taking Mercury so long.

A second later I heard someone start to breathe heavily. I look back to Jaune to see he was awake and in obvious pain and panicking. He probably didn't know where he was.

What do I do?

I placed a hand gently on the top of his head. "It's okay, you're safe here." I tell him in an attempt calm him down.

He turned his head slightly to look at me. Then glare at me. "You!" He spoke in a strained and angered tone. He tried to lift his arm only for it to flop back down as he let out a pained gasp.

I turn my head left and right frantically, looking around the room. There has to be something I can do.

"..."

I keep my left hand on his head and my right hand over his heart. I close my eyes and focus while reciting the ancient incantation in my mind.

 _"Our goal is to acquire immortality. With this, we rise above all, nothing to hold us back. By my soul I releasing you from your shackles. Be free."_

 **An hour later**

I woke up on what felt like a fairly soft mattress with a blanket over me. I was tired and my body kind of ached so I decided to just lay there with my eyes closed.

*Poke*

I felt something poke my right cheek.

Great...

*Poke*

Neo's back...

*Poke*

I let out an annoyed sigh before opening my eyes and looking to my right...

*Poke*

She poked my cheek again.

"I'm awake you know."

...*Poke*

She's not going to stop unless I get up. I let out another sigh before sitting up in the bed. I take a quick look around the room, noticing that a couple of people were missing. Before I could ask, a scroll with a message typed on it was shoved into my hands. The message read.

[They're talking just outside at the moment.]

I handed the scroll back to it's owner before getting out of bed and walking to the front door. I pressed my ear against the door in hopes of being able to hear their conversation.

Luckily I could.

"-know that I don't exactly trust you guys, right?" I could hear Jaune speak.

"And I don't blame you. But, what could we possibly gain from deceiving you?" Mercury spoke this time.

"..."

"You can think it over and I'll be back in a-" Mercury was interrupted.

"Doing this will help keep my friends safer?"

"We will have actual contacts and leads, so we should be able to stay ahead of them. In other words, yes."

"...Okay, I'm in. I'll be your tactician. When do we leave?"

"Maybe a week. There are some things we need to take care of here first and this'll give you time to rest."

I backed away from the door when the knob turned and door opened. Mercury walked in first followed by Jaune. He was wearing a grey long sleeve sweater with the right sleeve tied in a knot, grey sweatpants and a cheap pair of white shoes.

Mercury lead him to one of the beds and had him lie down, covering him with a blanket in the process. He didn't even look in my or Neo's general direction as he passed by.

 **9:34 AM the next morning**

Neo and myself were back in the city of Haven while Mercury and Jaune stayed behind. We were currently walking down the street in the shopping district.

"Where did you get these again?" I asked the shorter girl walking next to me. We were both wearing hooded cloaks that she got from who knows where. Her's was hot pink with brown trim and mine dark green with white trim. We are to keep the hoods up so we aren't recognized immediately.

She didn't answer and instead took my hand, dragging me into one of the clothing stores.

Why?

Well, Jaune needed clothes. He can't wear the stuff we gave him the other day forever. Besides, it's not like we're going to pay for the clothes. If we're going to stop the extinction of mankind then we can procure some clothing without paying!

 **Fifteen minutes later**

It didn't take us very long. We knew what sizes he took and it was very easy to trick the poor girl at the register. We were out in about fifteen minutes and walking down the street again. We each carried a small shopping bag.

We made it a few stores down when Neo stopped in front a weapon shop called 'Simon's blade' that was going out of business.

"Hey, we need to get back." I remind her only to be ignored as she entered the shop. I let out an annoyed sigh and followed her.

The shop was empty aside from a little old lady sitting behind the counter at the back of the shop with two somewhat odd looking swords on the counter in front of her. One was an oddly curved silver sword while the other was fairly large and had a thick pointed silver blade with a long grip. She greeted us with a warm smile.

"Hello girls. What can I do for you?"

Neo strode up to the counter and pointed at the swords.

"Oh, you want them? No one has ever asked about these blades." The shopkeeper said, picking up the swords. "I apologize but I'm afraid they don't do much." She apologized, walking around the counter with a sword in each hand.

The shopkeeper handed the swords to Neo who examined them both closely. She then looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Uh, how much?" I ask reluctantly.

"Thirty Lien."

...Oh, that's actually not expensive at all.

"These are the last things I have to get rid of before the shop gets closed down." The little old lady said rather sadly.

Neo tugged on my pant leg, still holding the swords. She looked at me with those pleading eyes again, her lower lip quivering slightly.

 **One hour-thirty minutes later**

 **(Mercury's POV)**

He came at me again, swinging the sturdy wooden stick he held in his left hand. I block his strike with my own stick. We've been going at it like this for over an hour now and he was showing clear signs of exhaustion.

"Jaune, that's enough for now." I say as he almost falls over but catches himself with the stick.

He pants heavily for a few seconds before answering. "Fine."

We then started to make our back to the cabin. He dropped the stick he was holding and I did the same.

"With a bit more practice and an actual sword, you'd be... Silver."

He stops and turns to look at me, understandably confused. "Silver?"

"Well, you're not gonna be golden. For awhile at least."

He lets out a sigh before continuing towards the cabin. "Not like I was golden to begin with."

As we reached the door I noticed a familiar pink and green approaching from the distance. "They're back. Finally."

We waited a minute for the two to reach us in front of the cabin door.

"What took you so long?" I asked as the two girls reached us at the front door. Neo was carrying two small shopping bags wile Emerald carried two long objects wrapped in black cloth.

They removed their hoods and Emerald spoke. "Sorry? Getting back here isn't exactly a cakewalk."

"Sure, whatever you say. Did you get the stuff?" I ask, looking at the bags Neo was holding.

The smaller girl nodded and presented the bags to me. I took them, examining their contents.

"Good. And those?" I ask, looking at the objects Emerald was holding.

"Well..." Emerald paused for a second, looking at a frowning Neo. "...I thought these might be good." Neo was now smiling as Emerald unwrapped the first object, revealing it to be an oddly curved silver sword. She presented it to Jaune.

"For me?" He asked, wincing slightly when he picked up the sword by it's grip. "It's light." He was examining the blade when he started to pump a little bit of aura into it.

"Yeah, we tried that but it didn't-" Emerald was cut of when the sword suddenly transformed into a large bow. "O-Oh." She stammered out nervously.

"How exactly is he supposed to use a bow?" I ask, looking to a nervous Emerald and... Neo's gone.

"U-Um, I'm s-sorry." She managed to apologize, jumping in surprise when Jaune changed the bow back into a sword with a loud metal clap.

She's not... afraid of Jaune, is she? He's not like Cinder, he won't hurt you because of something like this.

Jaune definitely noticed her nervousness. He propped the sword against the wall next to the door. "Thank you." He said with a small smile, trying to relax the nervous girl.

Emerald seemed to relax, letting out a held in breath. "Sure. There's this one too." She said unwrapping the second object, another fairly large sword with a pointed thick silver blade with a long grip.

Jaune took the sword and examined it. "Hm." He started to pump a little aura into the sword only to drop it and grip his head in pain. He would have fallen over himself if Emerald didn't catch him.

"Hey, what's wrong!?" Emerald asked in a panicked tone, keeping the blond from falling over.

He removed his hand from his head, breathing heavily. "Head... Head just really hurt for a second. I'm fine." He said, pushing away from Emerald in attempt to walk on his own only to loose his balance and Emerald having to catch him again.

"Okay no, you're going back to bed." She pretty much ordered, leading a protesting Jaune into the cabin.

I was about to follow when Neo reappeared in front of me out of nowhere. "Where'd you go?"

She ignored me and picked up the sword Jaune had dropped, examining the base of the blade closely. She began scratching at the blade with her finger nail.

I watch her for a second before picking up the bowblade and walking past her inside. She soon followed, still scratching at the blade.

* * *

 **A/N:Both from Bloodborne. Simon's bowblade and the other looks like the Church pick in it's sword form.**

* * *

 **Midnight, four days later**

 **(Arslan's POV)**

Our mission was to bring these fugitives in. Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai and Neopolitan so justice could be served.

But, there was an unknown fourth with them wearing a white cloak with gold trim that hid his face quite well. Under the cloak he wore a button up brown leather vest over a light grey long sleeve shirt with the right sleeve tied in a knot, a fingerless brown leather glove, light brown work pants with a black belt and a pair of black work shoes.

He wielded a large one handed thick bladed silver sword with a long grip in his left hand. Clipped to his right on the belt was another silver sword with an oddly curved blade.

He was proving to be a problem to my surprise and even the three other fugitives.

With Nadir having been knocked out by the unknown fourth, the fugitives found an opening and were able to make a run for it. Bolin was tasked with seeing to Nadir's injuries while Reese and I gave chase.

"Oh come on, they've split up!" Reese complained as Mercury and Neo split from the other two.

"Damn, stay with me. We can at least catch the other two!" I ordered as we continued our chase of Emerald and the unknown.

The next thing I knew they disappeared and a brief second later Reese was struck hard in the gut by the blunt end of war pick, knocking her off of her board and slamming hard into a nearby tree. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

I stopped and saw the unknown standing over Reese, his war pick transforming back into a sword.

I charged at him only to fall face first onto the ground, a green chain binding me. I manage to look up and see the unknown kneeling beside Reese, his sword resting on the ground next to him.

He lets out what sounds like a relieved sigh, clips the sword to his belt then stands up and walks over to where I lay. "Arslan." He began, kneeling down.

That voice.

He pulled back his hood and I froze. "Jaune?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing, he was...

No!

I glared back at Emerald who was using her weapon's chains to bind me. She's fucking with my mind, it's what she does. "How dare you!" I say through gritted teeth, struggling against my binds.

"Arslan, listen." This... Whoever he really is said, reaching his hand out towards me.

"Don't touch me!" I yell, not wanting to look at his face. I know it's not him but it's still difficult. "Sustrai, stop this at once!" I order the green haired girl.

She just gives me a confused look, tightening her hold on me. She looks frightened as she should be because she can't hold me forever.

"Arslan, look at me." He asked in a gentle tone.

I don't want to.

"Please."

I let out a shaky breathe before looking at him. Remember, it's not really him.

He helps me into a sitting position, looking me over before looking at Emerald. "Let her go."

"I don't think so!" Emerald protested, tightening her hold yet again.

"Just do it." His voice was more commanding this time.

"But, Jaune..."

"Emerald." He sounded like he was getting impatient.

The chains loosened, retracting back to Emerald's weapons. She kept them out and ready.

I attacked, a palm strike sending Emerald flying back and slamming against a large rock. I turned around and attack the other one who should hopefully not look like Jaune anymore.

"No..." I stopped. He still looks like...

"Arslan, I'm sorry." He apologized, cupping my right cheek with his hand. It was so warm.

 **Twenty minutes later**

"Hey, wake up!"

I let out a groan before slowly opening my eyes. Reese was kneeling beside me, a concerned expression on her face.

"What happened?" She asked, helping me sit up.

I had my right hand covering my forehead, recalling what happened. That couldn't have been him, he died a week ago.

But...

"They got the jump on us." I said, not wanting to talk about what I saw.

"Damn, well we should get back and report this." Reese said, standing up and offering me a hand.

I was hoisted to my feet and we made our way back to Haven. I occasionally touched by right cheek on the way, remembering the warm sensation from his hand.

 **(Emerald's POV)**

Jaune and I made our way to the decided upon destination that we had all agreed to meet at if we ever became separated. I was having a little trouble walking so he was letting me use the war pick as a walking stick of sorts.

"Jaune."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have had you release her." He cut me off with an apology.

"Yeah, might not have been the best call."

"..."

"Anyway..." I continue, thinking on how to breach the subject. "How'd you do it?"

He gave me a confused look. "Do what?"

"You know, when we were ambushed. No offense but you're not exactly the strongest fighter and you should have had difficulty in that fight uninjured. You bested him with relative ease, with an unfamiliar weapon, non-dominate hand and still recovering. Either that guy sucked or you've been holding back."

"Well-"

"And what about Altan, what'd you do to her?" I interrupt him.

He looks away from me, taking a moment to think probably. "Neo showed me a trick to knock someone out painlessly with aura."

"Okay... And the other stuff?"

He looked back at me and shrugged. "I don't know."

I stare at him with a look of disbelief. "You don't know?"

He merely shrugged again. "Sorry."

"..."

 **Little over an hour later**

 **(Neo's POV)**

*Poke* I poke his side again.

We've been here in this cave for a good twenty minutes, where are they?

*Poke* You will acknowledge me Mercury!

"Knock it off." He tells me calmly.

I don't have to listen to you! *Poke*

"Neo." He's trying to sound threatening.

Barrage attack! *pokepokepokepokepokepokepoke*

"Oh for fuck's sake!" He picks me up by the waist and holds me as far away as possible. His attempt to make me stop.

Can't stop, won't stop! I began poking his arms rapidly. *pokepokepoke*

"Wait!" He says in a hushed tone.

I halt my attack... I hear footsteps!

I struggle to free myself for a second when he just drops me to my feet. Spinning around quickly, I see them. Emerald has the pick for some reason but I don't care about that right now.

"What happened to you?" Mercury asked Emerald as she and Jaune approached.

"Ugh, Altan hits **really** hard." She complained, handing the pick back to Jaune who changed it back to a sword before sheathing it.

Jaune, or should I say...

Onii-chan!

I wrap my arms around him and bury my face against his chest.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Sounded like Emerald.

"Not a clue..." Mercury.

I'm hugging my new Onii-chan, idiots!

I look up at my new Onii-chan and smile, still hugging him.

"Uh, hey?" He looked down at me with a nervous smile.

I frown. Don't be nervous. I release him and back away, ready to talk to him in the fastest way I know how.

Sign language.

"[Don't be nervous, Onii-chan.]"

He stared at me, a little confused. "W-What?!"

"What's wrong?" Emerald asked, coming to stand to Onii-chan's left.

"She just called me 'Onii-chan!"

Emerald's expression turned to that of shock. "O-Onii-chan!?"

"Oh boy." Came Mercury.

I smiled and nodded happily before running up to him, wrapping him in another hug with my face buried against his chest.

A moment passed before he let out a sigh and I felt a warm hand on my back. "Fine, Imouto."

"What!"

Keep it down, Emerald. Onii-chan and I are having a moment.

 **Almost three months later, seven at night**

 **(Emerald's POV)**

We stopped in a small village on the coast. A cheap motel room with two beds and a retractable wall to separate them. Just for a day before we hop on a boat heading for Atlas.

"Em, relax."

"I can't." I tell Mercury as I paced back and forth in the room.

"They'll be back." He says, sitting in a cushioned armchair.

When I woke up that morning, Jaune and Neo were gone. They each left a note that said they'd be back later. They've both been acting strange for the last few days, not eating or sleeping enough.

"I know Neo will be back. It's..."

"It's Jaune you're worried about, right?" He finished for me.

"...Yeah."

A moment passed before Mercury let out a sigh and spoke. "If you're so worried then go find him."

"But-"

I was cut off when he stood up and pushed me towards the door. "Go on, it's probably time for him to come back anyway." He opened the door and shoved me outside before slamming the door shut.

I stood in front of the door for a moment before setting off to find Jaune.

I got about twenty feet before Mercury yelled to me. "And for fuck's sake, confess!" He finished slamming the door again.

 **Twenty nine minutes later**

I found him rather quickly. He was on the beach, looking out at the moonlit ocean. He didn't notice me approach.

"Hey." I greeted quietly, standing to his left.

He glanced at me for a second before looking back to the ocean. "Hey." He greeted back.

We stood there for a moment, the only sound being that of the waves hitting the beach. It was peaceful... Romantic.

"Do you remember what today is?" He asked, holding a thin piece of cardboard that seems to have been folded and unfolded multiple times. He looked at it with a somber expression.

I shake my head. I know the date but that's not what he's asking.

"Today is..." He paused, showing me the piece of cardboard.

"Oh." It was the front of a Pumpkin Pete's cereal box with Pyrrha Nikos on it.

"...when it all went to shit." He finished, folding the cardboard up and pocketing it.

Aside from the sound of the ocean, it was silent. What should I say?

"I'm... I'm sorry." What else could I say.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"So many people died because of what I did. I-I shouldn't have followed her."

"You were afraid."

"I was selfish." I didn't want to die and so others died in my place.

"She made false promises."

"And I fell for them!" I was starting to become angry. "I stood by her and watched as Vale and Beacon burned! I watched as so many died."

I felt a hand grip my right shoulder, I looked into his azure eyes as he spoke. "If you resisted or tried to stop her, you would have just become another victim and her plan would have continued anyway."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek.

"What's important now is that you're trying to prevent more pointless death." He continued.

"It will never be enough!" I yelled at him. "...How do you not hate me, Mercury or Neo after all we've done?" I had to know.

"Neo told me that Cinder had a sort of... Mental influence on you. It made you follow her pretty much without question."

"I know about that, I should've resisted!"

He shook his head. "You couldn't, no one could. All of the promises she made tempted you which allowed her to influence you. Fear is what kept her influence strong." He pulled me into a hug. "You weren't in control of your actions."

I pushed him away, my hands on his chest and his hand on my back. "Do you actually believe that?"

He used his thumb to wipe away another tear that rolled down my right cheek. "I do."

"Jaune... Thank you." I lean forward slightly, pressing my lips against his.

 **Four months later, ten AM**

 **(Weiss' POV)**

We arrived at the bustling city of Dustin in Atlas, home to the head offices of the Schnee dust company yesterday. Haven didn't hold all of the answers but what information we got lead us here.

"I didn't think I'd return here so soon."

"Yeah... Your dad isn't going to try and keep you here, right?" My concerned partner asked.

"I highly doubt it." I say, looking over the crowded streets.

Yang, Blake, Ren and Nora were back at the hotel resting while Ruby and I decided to go for a walk. No real reason other than to get some air and to help familiarize Ruby with the city a bit. After loosing Jaune, Ruby became our one and only leader. She also carried his sword with her now, having it clipped to her left hip.

I'd rather not think back to that long week.

We walked for about ten minutes when Ruby pointed something out. There was a short girl who only came up to my eyes in her heels. She had long blonde hair tied in a single ponytail, blue eyes and a pale white complexion. She wore a short sleeved black hoodie with orange lining that exposed her mid drift and has a grey bunny face on the chest, black fingerless gloves, blue jean short shorts and a pair of black stiletto heels. She reminds me of Jaune a bit.

She looked lost or like she was looking for someone.

"She looks like she's lost someone. Maybe we can help her." Ruby suggested, looking to me for approval. She's been wanting to help people more and more since we lost Jaune.

"Well... Okay."

Ruby quickly made her way over to the shorter girl and I followed closely behind her.

"Hey, are you looking for someone?" Ruby asked the blonde girl like you would a child.

The girl seemed nervous at first before relaxing and nodding to answer.

"Can we help?" Ruby asked, gesturing to me and herself.

The girl thought for a moment before nodding with a happy smile.

"Okay, who are we looking for?"

The girl took out a scroll and typed something out before presenting it to us. [Onii-chan, my big brother.]

"Hmm, what's he look like?"

The girl put her scroll away before pointing at herself.

"That's it, you don't have a picture or anything?" I ask, not that pleased all we have to go on is he resembles her.

"Weiss, be nice." My partner scolded me.

"Fine, let's get started. Where did-" I was going to ask where she last saw him but she darted of behind us. We turned around to see the girl run up to someone wearing a white cloak with golden trim not to far away and hug them. Their face was hidden by the hood.

"That didn't take long." Ruby commented.

"Huh, I guess-" I froze when this girl's brother spoke.

"Where did you run off to?" The brother asked, picking his sister up in his arms.

I look to my left at Ruby to see her freeze up. I wasn't the only one to hear it. He sounded just like...

Jaune.

Ruby stopped me from calling out to the sibling pair with a hand on my shoulder.

"Weiss, no."

"But-"

"I said no!" She raised her voice slightly. "He's gone, Pyrrha's gone, Penny's gone they're all gone. Just like the girl that sounded like Pyrrha, that guy just sounded like Jaune."She finished, releasing my shoulder and walking off in the direction of the hotel.

I look back at the siblings who were looking at us for a second before quickly walking out of sight.

 **(Neo's POV)**

I hold onto him tightly as he carries me back to our hotel. We're definitely going to be leaving soon, probably today.

 **Six minutes later**

We arrived at our room with Emerald being the only occupant, lying on the far bed in nothing but her lime green panties and bra.

"Jaune~"

Oh my...

The moment she saw me her expression changed to that of annoyance. "Neo, what're you doing? I thought Mercury told you to scram for a bit."

Onii-chan sets me down. I run over to grab my bag and my pink cloak. I let my illusion fall, making me look normal again.

"What's going on?" Emerald asked, standing up and walking up to Onii-chan.

He looked her up and down with a light blush before answering. "We need to leave soon, they're here."

"Oh, okay." She looked a little disappointed which Onii-chan noticed and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Sorry." He apologized.

She smiled back at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Mercury won't be back for awhile, so we won't be leaving right off." It sounded like she was suggesting something.

He smiled, grabbed her by the hips and pulled her close. "Yeah?" Uh oh, he had 'that' smile.

I take this as my cue to give them a little privacy. I take out my scroll and a pair of earbuds before stepping into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

 **Twenty minutes later**

*Creak*

*Creak*

"Oh Emmy, don't stop!"

*CreakCreakCreak*

"Fuck!"

Twenty.

Minutes.

My volume is set to max and I can still hear everything! All the moans and the creaking!

"Oh, Jaune!"

I don't want to hear this, Onii-chan!

 **five minutes later**

Well, they're in the bathroom getting cleaned up. I can hear the shower running.

I was sitting on the bed that wasn't a mess and didn't have... stains. You know, I'm just glad they're-

*Bang!*

Oh no...

"Oh yes!"

You're supposed to be getting cleaned up!

"Harder!"

I understand it's been awhile but come on!

*BangBangBang*

...

That's not coming from the bathroom.

"Would you mind keeping it down?!" An angry female voice yelled from just outside the front door, banging on said door.

"Oh god!"

"Hey!"

*BangBangBang*

I get up and disguise myself to look like I did earlier with the blonde hair before answering the door.

Crap.

An all to familiar blonde with now red eyes stood in front of me. Yang Xiao Long.

While the moans continued in the bathroom, the taller blonde glared down at me. I notice that her right arm seems a bit longer and thicker than her left. Right, that's what happened to his arm.

"Could you please tell your friends to keep it down?"

I nod nervously.

"Great, thanks." She said before walking to my left and entering the neighboring room.

I close the door and let out a sigh of relief, letting my disguise disappear.

"Who was that?" Emerald asked, exiting the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her.

Onii-chan was next, a towel wrapped around his waist. His new shiny metal arm now exposed.

I sign my answer to them. "[Yang Xiao Long.]"

His eyes widened in shock. "She's right next door, isn't she?"

I nod.

"Who's next door?" Emerald asked, seeming a little nervous.

"Oh, Yang and probably everyone else."

"...Why was she here?"

Take a wild guess.

 **Thirteen minutes later**

We all donned our cloaks and were just leaving the room. Hot pink with brown trim for me, plain grey for Mercury, dark green with white trim for Emerald and Onii-chan's was white with gold trim. I also disguised my self again just in case.

"Okay, we ready?" Onii-chan asked quietly.

We all nodded and I took hold if his left hand. We started making our war towards the stairs when we heard a commotion coming from the room Yang came from.

"What!" Someone screamed from within the room.

A few seconds passed and their door flew open and Weiss Schnee was quickly in the hallway right in front of us. Her eyes locked onto Onii-chan.

"Excuse me." She approached us, standing in front of Onii-chan.

"Y-Yes?" He asked nervously, keeping his hood down.

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Jaune?"

He didn't answer.

"Please, is it you?" Her voice was cracking slightly.

He reached over to place his right hand on Emerald's shoulder. "Sorry." He said quietly.

"Sorry?" The Schnee's eyes widened. "W-Where'd you go!?"

To Schnee, we vanished.

We quickly and quietly made our way down the stares and out of the hotel.

 **(Ren's POV)**

"W-Where'd you go!?" We could hear Weiss out in the hall. She just ran out of the room after Yang told her about our very loud neighbors.

Ruby let out an annoyed growl before going out to retrieve her partner. "Weiss, get in here!"

"B-But Ruby-"

"Enough!"

Ruby slammed the door shut as she practically dragged Weiss in by the wrist. They both stood in the center if the room.

"Ruby, I know it was him!"

"Oh, like you 'knew' it was Pyrrha?" Ruby brought up the last time Weiss thought she saw Pyrrha.

"But-"

"Or Penny?!"

"..." Weiss was looking down at her feet, not wanting to meet her partner's eyes.

"This has to stop." Ruby said calmly.

A moment of silence passed, none of us dared to speak. No one dared to move.

Weiss shook her head before turning and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

"To look."

"Weiss, come on!" Ruby made to stop her but I stood in her path. "Ren, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to help." I say before turning and following Weiss out of the room.

Ruby and Nora followed, trying to stop us. They couldn't, not until we've searched the entire city.

 **Five years later**

 **(Ruby's POV)**

Clue after clue and nothing. Never getting closer to finding who was responsible. It sucked.

We were in Vacuo at the time, a small village. That's when we saw Ozpin. Or at least a ten year old boy claiming to be him, he knew us so... Anyway he told us to get back to Vale as quickly as possible, the Dragon was soon to awaken. We set off and boarded the first ship to Vale.

 _"Others will come to aid you."_

That's what we were told before heading off.

We were all positioned on the roof of our old dorm. We managed to get passed most if the Grimm without being seen and any who saw us were quickly killed.

"I thought there were supposed to be others, where are they?" Yang asked, pacing back and forth.

I took to looking through the scope on Crescent Rose, trying to find anyone else... "Damn." No one.

"I take that as you don't see anyone?" Ren asked.

I look back at him and shake my head.

* * *

 **That's it for this one.**


End file.
